What type of Paint should I use?
I plan to do a landscape of painted stained glass and want to paint trees and limbs on it. What kind of paint should I use and does it have to be fired or is there a paint that will last without being fired. For indoor use. Gary
Milly’s reply: The glass paint doesn’t have to be fired, no. Only if you want it to be permanent. There’s other types of what’s called ‘cold paints’ that you can paint your landscape with.
Some of these – the ones you fire in your oven – are more lasting than the ones that don’t get heated at all. It depends what type of longevity you’re after.
Have a read of my Wine Glass Painting page – it goes through the types of paint that need heating in a domestic oven.
If it’s kiln firing and medieval permanence you want, then have a look at my Painting On Glass section.
For the least robust type of paint – I’ve used the Pebeo Vitrail transparent range with success. Just make sure you put enough paint on, and use a circular rather than stroking motion.
Let me know how you get on.
Help Needed For A-level Project
by Hannah
Blue and Yellow Cold Paint
I desperately need to paint my A-level project, but have found that when I try and paint it with the oil based glass paints its spreads very unevenly and doesn’t look good or neat.
I need to paint it by Thursday for it to dry in time, but I’m really not sure what to do. I have the proper paintbrushes there’s 5 different thicknesses but none do the job how I would like it to. Please help!
Milly’s suggestion: Ok, you’ve got to be quick! Thanks for the photo, it really helps me to see what’s going on. It looks like you’re not putting enough paint on in the first place. I’ve used the Pebeo Vitrail range with success – they’re ‘cold’ paints, which means you don’t have to fire them in a glass kiln. There is a transparent range, and they dry fairly quickly.
Put the paint on liberally with quite a stiff small brush, using small circles rather than long brush strokes. You want to cover the area by filling it with paint, rather than smearing it with strokes, if that makes sense?
Try on a small test area first. Good luck, and fingers crossed for your A Level.
Enamel or Glass Paint?
Can you use oil base with a second layer water based for enamels as well as glass paint?
Milly’s reply: Hi Osnat. Yes, you can use this technique for both glass paint and enamels. It is a bit confusing to call them different names, as you can do the same things with them – they’re the same really. Good luck with your project.
Advanced Painting Techniques
Green Man Glass Picture
I would like to know about more advanced or unconventional painting techniques. I have looked into screen printing and sponging and found very little actual information on process. Would you be able to suggest any other techniques that I may have overlooked?
Milly’s reply: Where to start Mairi…as I’m not quite sure about what types of painting methods you want to know about, I’ll mention a few and a couple of books that you might want to buy to learn more.
Probably the best book on glass painting is ‘The Art of Painting on Glass’ by Albinas Elskus. It’s just been reprinted. He’s really good for a good solid grounding in traditional techniques, and once you’ve grasped those, the world is your oyster.
Have you tried matting (putting a wash of paint over a whole area) and then picking out the paint? See my
Glass Painting Techniques page for detailed instructions.
Have you tried silverstain? That really is quite beautiful. Have a look at my Stain Glass page for an introduction, but Elskus covers that too.
What about printing on glass in various ways? There’s lots of alternatives to screenprinting on glass. Kevin Petrie’s book Glass and Print is fantastic for all sorts of ideas. He prints from etching plates, uses transfers, makes what he calls ‘integrated glass prints’ and uses photography too. It’s a really practical book, with suppliers and detailed instructions all the processes.
Hope that’s enough to get you started. Let me know how you get on.
This painting starter kit is available on Amazon
This painting starter kit is available on Amazon Peter Mcgrain Deluxe Paint Starter Kit
